The Mess We've Made
by raok
Summary: Starts after Season 1, Episode 5 (so spoilers if you haven't seen the new season yet). Stunned, everyone is at a loss. What's next?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story starts off where S.5 Ep.1 ends. The first episode of the season left us with more questions than the finale of season 4. So... what happens now?

CPOV

I don't remember how I got home. I couldn't tell you if I called a driver, took an Uber, hailed a taxi, or rode the subway.

I was too focused on the folder I held so tightly my knuckles were white and the thick cardstock of the file was beginning to warp under the pressure. I had only glimpsed at the documents that were contained inside, before all but storming out – unsure how to process the bits and pieces I'd seen.

I'd ridden the elevator down to the lobby contemplating going to Liza's to confront her. To ask her what the fuck was going on, to demand an explanation. But I think even my subconscious knew I wasn't ready for whatever answer she gave – which is why I ended up in front of my building instead of in Brooklyn.

Marching up the stairs, my mind swam with Liza. How she'd said out loud what we'd been dancing around for months. That whatever this was, this electricity that popped whenever we were in close proximity, was more than just an infatuation – it was real. I had done something I'd scoffed at other men my age doing and fell for a young subordinate.

The joke was on me, though.

I tossed the folder onto the large oak dining table and walked to the drink cart to pour myself something strong. I poured myself a double which turned into a double-double and wound up being almost an entire glass. I was going to need this (and more) to get through the packet in front of me.

"Charles, is that you?" Pauline's voice rang out from the hall. I ran a hand through my hair and put the glass down.

"Yea, in here," I answered.

She followed my voice and gave a small smile as she approached. "You weren't gone long. Everything okay at the office?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, deciding that nothing should be disclosed until I'd had time to sit and really look at everything. There was still a chance that Edward L.L. Moore had concocted this whole thing to discredit Liza, and through her both the case and Empirical. And I needed to believe that was what was going on, at least for a little while. "Yea, Moore's lawyers just dropped off some documents I need to review."

"He's really fighting this?" She asked, scoffing with disbelief. "That man has no moral compass, does he? Does he think he's going to get away with it? Sexually harassing all those women?"

"Who knows," I told her, finally taking a sip from my glass. "How're the girls?" I followed up quickly, not making a smooth segue at all.

"Oh," she said, seemingly surprised at the change in topic. "They're fine. They were asleep when I got home."

"Good. It sounds like they're finally out of their staying up all night phase." Probably because their mother is home, I thought to myself.

"Seems like it," she nodded as she moved closer. She put a hand on my upper arm and looked up at me. "Anything I can do? Help you look over the file? Make some coffee?"

"No, no," I brushed off. "I'm just going to head to the study and start sifting through this." I lifted the folder, waving it in the air.

She gave a half smile and nodded as I moved past her and headed upstairs.

The minute I got into my office I shut the door and strode over to my desk, tossing the file down.

I couldn't sit still and began pacing, eyeing the documents and having a Tell-Tale Heart moment. The folder palpitated with lies – or truths – that made the past few months one big farce. And I didn't want to believe that Liza, the woman that had captivated me from the moment I met her and every second since, could be that kind of person. The kind that so easily made up a life, that made up an entirely new identity – and for what purpose?

Finally, after I began to wonder if I was prematurely fading my carpet with my constant back and forth, I sat down at my desk. I didn't want to confirm what I knew; that Moore hadn't falsified documents, that the only deception that occurred was by the woman I'd worked beside for months and fallen for.

I cautiously opened the cover, coming face to face with evidence piece #1 – a copy of her birth certificate. She was not 27; she was 41.

As I reviewed each piece of paper, some legal documents, some photos, my glass emptied steadily.

Birth certificate

Marriage license

Birth certificate of her daughter

Divorce decree

A prom photo – silver helium balloons noting 1995 hanging in an arch above her and her date's heads.

A photo of her with pigtails on roller-skates, the picture clearly faded reflecting the decades that had gone by since it was taken

A wedding photo. This one didn't look as old as the others, but still a bit dated.

I read and reread. I stared at the photos until I went cross-eyed. I see-sawed between high voltage anger and rock in my stomach sadness.

I had fallen in love with a woman I knew nothing about. And I had no clue what the hell to do.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for reviewing! Glad I'm not the only one that wonders what is going to happen, and how this is going to shake out from here. I don't own the characters or anything Younger related. Apologies for any typos, I didn't finish this with fresh eyes and have no beta, but wanted to get it up before this week's episode.

LPOV

He'd left abruptly, looking panicked. With everything going on, I wasn't surprised when he said something came up and he needed to head to the office.

What surprised me was he didn't text me the rest of the night. I had hoped for _something,_ some words to acknowledge what I'd said to him that morning, or whatever he was about to say when Pauline appeared in Times Square.

I knew that before anything could really happen I would need to tell him the truth. I'd been telling myself that for months. But how do you tell someone you're in love with, that run of the mill pieces of information they know about you aren't the reality – and yet every emotion has been authentic?

This wasn't like it had been with Josh. This wasn't a few months, this was much longer. The feelings I had for him, the connections I'd made to those close to him, were stronger. I loved Josh for all that he and I had had. I loved that he broke me out of my naïve shell when it came to relationships and brought a sense of adventure, of excitement, of energy that I wasn't sure I'd ever experienced before.

I loved Josh, and watching him get married was difficult, but I sat through it. I didn't break down, I didn't run. And it was somewhere between him and Clare sealing the deal with a kiss and watching their first dance that I realized that I was no holds barred in love with Charles. I couldn't picture feigning happiness while he was at the altar with someone else, even just renewing his vows with Pauline would sting too much to sit through.

I loved that even the thought of someone calling him Charlie made me laugh. I loved the way that a second-long sideways glance for him had my heart racing for minutes. I loved that he listened intently, that he moved with thought and passion at the same time. I loved that he epitomized the cliché description of both the tall, dark and handsome as well as the strong and sensitive type.

I couldn't wait to see what was next.

The next morning I woke up at 5AM, nervous to see what would become of the LL Moore fiasco, and to (hopefully) have the chance to really talk to Charles about… everything.

Maggie wasn't up yet, so I set to making the first pot of coffee and popping an English muffin in the toaster.

"What the hell is this?" Maggie said as she shuffled out of her room. "What's got you up so early?"

"Nothing, I'm just excited about my job, that's all."

"Your job or your boss?" She countered, raising an eyebrow.

"Why can't it be both?" I asked in return.

"Uh huh," she smirked. "Said farewell to all your mushy feeling for Josh, have you?"

"No," I sighed, trying not to burn my fingers as I pulled the slices of bread from the toaster and dropping them onto a plate. "I will always care for Josh. But he's married, and let's be honest, there was no way that that could lead anywhere. I mean he's only a few years older than Caitlin."

She reached over and grabbed half of my muffin. "True. But how much further do you think this thing with Charles can go before you have to spill the beans?"

"I agree," I conceded. "Which is why I need to tell him." Truth be told it was a terrifying thought. I had no idea how he'd react; I could only go off how Josh had responded and that had been months ago. "I'm going to ask him if he's free for dinner and tell him then. It's not a conversation for the office."

"Yea, you don't want him thirty floors up where he can just run through a window," she deadpanned.

Despite the oh-so-perky pep talk with Maggie, I was still feeling pretty good as I walked through the elevators at work. However as I exited onto my floor, something felt off.

As I pushed through the doors a little before 8AM, I saw Charles sitting at the conference table with three men and one woman – all of them in expensive-looking suits and none of them with smiles. Charles looked up and towards me as I walked by. I lifted my hand in a quick wave, but he didn't reciprocate.

He looked completely unnerved, which in turn, freaked me out.

I put my things down at my desk, and walked over to the conference room. "Morning all," I greeted. All of them turned to look my way and I suddenly felt like a pig going to slaughter, but quickly recovered. "Um, can I get anyone anything?"

"We're fine," Charles said curtly. "Please tell everyone this conference room is occupied until further notice."

"You got it," I confirmed before retracing my steps back to my desk.

The rest of the morning was just as awkward. Whispers about what could be going on filled the office. Obviously, it was about Moore, but what about the case? Were there more women? Had some recanted? Was Moore suing us?

Around 2, it was clear no real work was really being done, and that Diana had no expectation that anything would be completed since she hollered at me every ten minutes asking for a status update.

It was closing on 3 when Charles walked out of the office, carrying a few folders and marching towards us.

"Liza, can I see you for a moment?"

"Me?" I asked pointing to myself.

"You are Liza, aren't you?" He snapped already walking back towards his office.

"Uh, um, yea…" I stammered, scurrying behind him.

"Get the door," he said without looking up as I entered the room. I shut it quickly and went to sit in one of the chairs across from him.

"There's a chance," he said covering his jaw with his hand. "That we'll need to re-spin this whole Moore thing."

"Re-spin? Why?" What the fuck was going on? "We have multiple women who are willing to give statements saying that he violated them!" How could a creep like him think he could get away with everything he'd done?!

He took a deep breath and tossed one of the files in my direction. "Yea, but we also have this."

I looked down at the file. Without opening it, I knew. It was all over his face, he knew.

"Well," he said. "Aren't you going to see what Moore's attorneys brought me last night? It was one hell of a gift," he spat.

I opened the file slowly, my birth certificate staring back at me.

He knew.

I didn't know what to say. I knew an apology wouldn't suffice.

"I…"

He stared at me, not like he had days, weeks, or months prior. This was cold, dead. There was no reviving anything. This was not a Josh and Liza situation. This was me on the brink of destroying every facet of him; personal and professional.

There was no coming back from this.

"Nevertheless," he continued. "I've been meeting with our lawyers all morning and I think we've found a way to keep Empirical from being taken down as a sham company that hires pathological liars and sexual offenders with this." He slid a thinner file towards me.

I opened it, my mind still swimming as I skimmed the document. I read it twice more, unable to believe what they were having me sign. "You want me to say that I did this as part of a book deal?"

He nodded. "More specifically, you did this to write a novel and Empirical is on board and will publish it. We'll market it as the bridge between Millennial and Empirical."

"What about Moore?" I pressed.

"Once we have this, he won't be able to use who you really are against us, and we can move forward with the case."

I swallowed hard and nodded, reaching for a pen.

"Who else knows?" He asked as I scribbled chicken scratch on the signature line.

I considered playing dumb, but he deserved better. He deserved a lot better. "Maggie."

He nodded his head back and forth. "Obviously."

"Kelsey."

He blinked. "Okay."

"Josh." I winced internally, watching his jaw clench as he ran a stiff hand through his hair.

"Anyone else?"

"Jay."

"Jay?" He repeated, sitting up. "For fuck's sake Liza, you told Jay?"

"Not exactly, but the details aren't important," I shook off. "He can be trusted. He's kept my secret this long."

"How," he said, jumping up from his chair. "How the _fuck.."_ He shook his head, pacing. He raised a hand, then shook his head. "I was trying to keep level headed about this. I spent all of last night trying to figure out how to have this conversation. But _fuck_ Liza… how the hell could you do this?"

"I…"

He stopped, his eyes zeroing in on me. "And of all people, how could you not tell _me_? I thought… we…" he stopped briefly before pacing again.

"Charles –" I started but had nothing that followed. There were no excuses. "Yes," I said, trying to continue. "I lied about my age. But everything else," I said, moving in front of his path. "Everything else was 100% true. Everything we talked about, everything I felt – I feel."

He scoffed. "That's bullshit Liza. I – I don't know what the fuck to believe when it comes to you anymore. I mean for God sakes you have an adult child!"

"Caitlin," I said.

"I know!" He said, stopping to shout. "I read it in the biography LL Moore put together on your behalf."

"I am so, so sorry," I pleaded. I didn't know what else to do.

"So am I," he said, staring through me. His expression said it all – _I'm done with you_

We were silent, and I tried to keep myself together and not completely break down. "So… what now?"

He took a deep breath, looking momentarily relieved at the slight change of topic. "Now you sign this document, I give it to the attorneys, and announce to the team that we have a new in-house author."


End file.
